"Very many pleasures are almost only pleasures because we hope and intend to recount them." –Giacomo Leopardi

Ghoulish Good Times: London Halloween 2018

From hair-raising tours of haunted palaces to creepy cabaret, fiendish fancy dress parties, and a spook”tea”cular take on England’s decadent afternoon delight, here’s a list of fang-tastic places to get your ghoul on around London this autumn.

Dark Circus Party

For things that go bump (and grind) in the night, Bourne & Hollingsworth offers a tricky twist on Big Top entertainment. Their cabaret-style Dark Circus Party promises to be nothing less than “a world of heady illusion and unbridled visual delight…thrilling, provocative, and a little bit risqué.” Picture caged curiosities, sword swallowers, fire breathers, and treacherous trapeze acts.

But fear not. For jaded Londoners, that’s pretty much just another Saturday night on the Piccadilly Tube Line. Except, of course, the Dark Circus Party will be serving “boo”ze. (See what I did there?)

You’ve heard the “Elvis is Alive” rumours? Well, they’re half-right. Zombie Elvis is currently not NOT alive and well(ish) on London’s Underground.

Costumes are required. Per the website, “anyone wearing jeans, trainers or t-shirts will be refused entry and fed to the lions.” Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Dark Arts at the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour London

Delve into the realm of wizards and witches at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London–The Making of Harry Potter, where you can immerse yourself in the enchanted universe brilliantly captured by the franchise’s eight films. Unlike The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida, the UK tour doesn’t feature theme park rides. Rather, it encompasses two massive soundstages (J and K…get it?) filled with genuine sets, costumes, and props from the movies, which were largely shot next door.

A wee wizard & his brother, a mini-Aragog, strike a pose in Diagon Alley.

Hampton Court Haunted Tour and Spooky Sleepover

From the “Screaming Lady” (the screechy spirit of Catherine Howard, beheaded bride of Henry VIII) to Skeletor, a bony robed figure caught on CCTV, Hampton Court Palace claims its share of ghosts and ghouls. This autumn, the palace offers two ways to scare yourself senseless. Take a haunted tour—or even dare to spare an entire night slumbering in the King’s State Apartments.

Just don’t expect your spectral spend-the-night party to include a king-sized bed. Oh no. The palace will provide communal sleeping arrangements, along with a mat and earplugs, to muffle the sounds of the snoring hoi-polloi peasantry sprawled alongside you. The royal treatment does, however, stretch to dinner, “live” (as opposed to undead?) entertainment, including characters in historical dress, plus a palace tour, and breakfast the next morning.

Family and Adult haunted tours available on October 31, as well as additional dates in November and early 2019. Click here for dates and prices.

Hampton Court Station (a five minute walk from the palace) is 30 minutes by train from London Waterloo. More details here.

Temptingly Terrifying Tea at The Milestone

Where can Mummies take their little monsters for a special treat this October? Halloween tea at the five-star The Milestone Hotel.

Sit down to an array of devilish delights conjured by culinary sorceress Chloe Hemery, The Milestone’s Head Pastry Chef. Gorge on French confectionaries, freshly baked scones served with clotted cream and blood-red jam, and delicate finger sandwiches. (No, they’re not made from real fingers; sorry to disappoint).

Twilight Tour of The Tower of London

For a limited time, you can take advantage of exclusive, after-hours access to the Tower of London, where the ghost of Henry VIII’s beheaded Queen Anne Boleyn is said to share the castle walls with a cadre of cadaverous cronies. On Sunday nights, from November 18 – December, 2018 and January 6 – April 14, 2019, Yeoman Warders (that’s “Beefeaters,” to you and me) will lead these spine-tingling tours, taking in sites like Traitor’s Gate, the scaffold where countless unfortunates met their fate, and the Bloody Tower.

So, who’s up for some haunted history? Hey, you wouldn’t have to “axe” me twice (ahem). Over 12-years only. More info here.